[28] Particularly amongst the windward tribes visited by Lieut.
Cruttenden, from whom I borrow this description.
[29] This beautiful bird, with a black and crimson plume, and wings lined
with silver, soars high and seldom descends except at night: its shyness
prevented my shooting a specimen. The Abodi devours small deer and birds:
the female lays a single egg in a large loose nest on the summit of a tall
tree, and she abandons her home when the hand of man has violated it. The
Somal have many superstitions connected with this hawk: if it touch a
child the latter dies, unless protected by the talismanic virtues of the
"Hajar Abodi," a stone found in the bird's body. As it frequently swoops
upon children carrying meat, the belief has doubtlessly frequently
fulfilled itself.
[30] The Bushman creeps close to the beast and wounds it in the leg or
stomach with a diminutive dart covered with a couch of black poison: if a
drop of blood appear, death results from the almost unfelt wound.
[31] So the Veddahs of Ceylon are said to have destroyed the elephant by
shooting a tiny arrow into the sole of the foot. The Kafirs attack it in
bodies armed with sharp and broad-head "Omkondo" or assegais: at last, one
finds the opportunity of cutting deep into the hind back sinew, and so
disables the animal.
